the artist is present
Tags:
#dog #snow #sculpture #awesome

Arctic Squirrels Use Steroids to Bulk Up But Don’t Suffer the Consequences
Fat alone couldn’t get these squirrels through hibernation in burrows that get almost as chilly as -10 degrees Fahrenheit
by Marissa Fessenden
Steroid abuse can give men breasts and infertility, while it strikes women with excessive hair and a deepening voice. Anybody injecting too much testosterone and other muscle-building anabolic steroids risks heart enlargement, liver cancer, high blood pressure, heart attacks — and the mania and delusions called ‘roid rage.
Squirrels, however, do fine.
Some squirrels running around with extremely high steroid hormone levels, which help them build muscle before hibernation. But how do they avoid all the negative effects that steroids have on other mammals, like, oh, us? That’s the question that a team of Canada-based scientists have addressed in a new paper, published in Biology Letters.
Arctic ground squirrels, male and female, can ramp up the concentration of androgens in their blood to levels that are 10 to 200 times higher than normal. These androgens—testosterone and other hormones typically higher in males—allow the squirrels to pack on 30 percent more muscle mass before they start their eight-month winter hibernation, the team, led by Rudy Boonstra, reports. These squirrels are carrying an amazing amount of muscle mass—four times that of related Columbian ground squirrels…
(read more: Smithsonian Magazine)
photo: James Hager/Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis
Tags:
#squirrel #biology #the more you know

Our class has the best Christmas tree.
oh my god it’s our chemistree
BLESS
But of the tree of the laboratory, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely have a really bad time
Tags:
#Christmas #chemistree #puns
have you ever noticed how in ‘twelve days of christmas’ so many of the gifts are various birds? who has access to these many birds? why is this person receiving so many birds? can i receive this many birds? i want answers
Tags:
#Christmas #I actually *have* noticed
Spiders with water droplet hats are something I really needed to know about.
Tags:
#spider #oh my god
Cartoonist Josh Hara Draws on His Coffee Cup(s) Every Morning [more]
Previously: How to Get 10% Off Your Order at Not a Burger Stand
Tags:
#anything that makes me laugh this much deserves a reblog #all hail the glorious Pumpkin #who bringeth us Pumpkin Spice
I’m laughing and waking everyone up for this. I don’t care if it’s 6am, fuck ‘em.
Tags:
#Star Trek #TOS #anything that makes me laugh this much deserves a reblog #juxtaposition
Many people message me asking about Pringle’s harness, and where I bought it. So here’s a big post all about his harness for those interested. I didn’t buy it, a friend made it for me. She took his measurements and made it just for him. The lead is a rabbit lead that I did buy from a store. And I got a tag with his name and my phone number on it.
Tags:
#lizard #adorable #(yes another one)